Precision measurement of the three 2(3)P(J) helium fine structure intervals

The three 2(3)P fine structure intervals of 4H are measured at an improved accuracy that is sufficient to test two-electron QED theory and to determine the fine structure constant alpha to 14 parts in 10(9). The more accurate determination of alpha, to a precision higher than attained with the quantum Hall and Josephson effects, awaits the reconciliation of two inconsistent theoretical calculations now being compared term by term. A low pressure helium discharge presents experimental uncertainties quite different than for earlier measurements and allows direct measurements of light pressure shifts.     

Precision microwave measurement of the 2 3P1-2 3P2 interval in atomic helium

The 2 3P1-to- 2 3P2 interval in atomic helium is measured using a thermal beam of metastable helium atoms excited to the 2 3P state using a 1.08-&mgr;m diode laser. The 2 3P1-to- 2 3P2 transition is driven by 2.29-GHz microwaves in a coaxial transmission line. Our result of 2 291 174.0+/-1.4 kHz is the most precise measurement of helium 2 3P fine structure. This measurement plays a key role in obtaining a new value for the fine-structure constant.     

Experimental determination of the helium 2(3)P(1)-1(1)S0 transition rate

We present the first experimental determination of the 2(3)P(1)-1(1)S0 transition rate in helium and compare this measurement with theoretical quantum-electrodynamic predictions. The experiment exploits the very long (approximately 1 minute) confinement times obtained for atoms magneto-optically trapped in an apparatus used to create a Bose-Einstein condensate of metastable (2(3)S1) helium. The 2(3)P(1)-1(1)S0 transition rate is measured directly from the decay rate of the cold atomic cloud following 1083 nm laser excitation from the 2(3)S1 to the 2(3)P1 state, and from accurate knowledge of the 2(3)P1 population. The value obtained is 177+/-8 s(-1), which agrees very well with theoretical predictions, and has an accuracy that compares favorably with measurements for the same transition in heliumlike ions higher in the isoelectronic sequence.     

Precise measurement of the J = 1 to J = 2 fine structure interval in the 2( 3)P state of helium

We measure the J = 1 to J = 2 fine structure interval in the ( 3)2P state of helium to be 2 291 175.9(1.0) kHz. We use laser excitation of an atomic beam along with an integrated electro-optic modulator technique to obtain this result. The result is consistent (2.9+/-3.2 kHz) with what could be considered an earlier version of this experiment but is not in good agreement ( 20+/-5 kHz and 22+/-8 kHz) with the two other precision determinations of this interval. The current theoretical prediction lies between and overlaps the experiments.     

Improved measurement of the hydrogen 1S-2S transition frequency

We have measured the 1S-2S transition frequency in atomic hydrogen via two-photon spectroscopy on a 5.8 K atomic beam. We obtain f(1S-2S) = 2,466,061,413,187,035 (10) Hz for the hyperfine centroid, in agreement with, but 3.3 times better than the previous result [M. Fischer et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 92, 230802 (2004)]. The improvement to a fractional frequency uncertainty of 4.2 × 10(-15) arises mainly from an improved stability of the spectroscopy laser, and a better determination of the main systematic uncertainties, namely, the second order Doppler and ac and dc Stark shifts. The probe laser frequency was phase coherently linked to the mobile cesium fountain clock FOM via a frequency comb.     

Spectroscopy of the helium 2 3S–2 3P transition above 0.01 Tesla – application to optical pumping studies

Optical pumping of helium makes use of the 2 ³S–2 ³P transition at 1083 nm. We report on a study of this transition in magnetic fields up to 1.5 T. Based on these results, an optical method to measure nuclear polarisation in arbitrary field has been developed. Preliminary results on optical pumping at 0.1 T are presented. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Precise measurement of the 23P0−23P2 fine structure interval in helium

A measurement of the 2³P₀?2³P₂ fine structure interval in the helium has beeen made using the optical microwave atomic beam magnetic resonance technique. The result is 31.908 040 (20) GHz (0.6ppm), which establishes an internal consistency in measurements of the helium fine structure and verifies the theory to order α⁴Ry. When the theory is used together wit our experimental result we obtain a value for the fine structure constant α by α^-1=137.03613(11) (0.8 ppm).     

Absolute frequency measurements of the 2(3)S1-->2(3)P 0,1,2 atomic helium transitions around 1083 nm

We measure the frequency of the 2(3)S1-->2(3)P(0,1,2) transitions of helium in a metastable beam using an optical frequency comb synthesizer. The relative uncertainty of these measurements ranging from 5x10(-11) to 7x10(-12) is, to our knowledge, the most precise result for any optical helium transition. Considering existing accurate values of the 2(3)P fine structure, we measure a centroid value of the 2(3)S-2(3)P frequency of 276 736 495 624.6(2.4) kHz, improving the previous interferometric measurement by 30 times. New accurate values of the 2(3)S-2(3)P and 2(3)P Lamb-shift energies are obtained.     

Measurement of absolute cross sections for excitation of the 3s(2)3p(5) 2P(o)(3/2)- 3s(2)3p(5) 2P(o)(1/2) fine-structure transition in Fe9+

Experimental cross sections are reported for the 3s(2)3p(5) 2P(o)(3/2)- 3s(2)3p(5) 2P(o)(1/2) transition in Fe9+ located at 1.945 eV. The center-of-mass interaction energies are in the range of 1.72 eV (below threshold) through threshold, to 5.6 eV (2.9 x threshold). Data are compared with results of a 49-state Breit-Pauli R-matrix theory. The experiment detects structures at 3.5 and 4.6 eV corresponding to enhancement of the direct excitation via many narrow, closely spaced resonances about these energies calculated by the theory. Iron is present in practically every astrophysical object, as well as being an impurity in fusion plasmas. Present data are the first electron-energy-loss measurements on a highly charged iron ion.     

氦原子2 ~3P态的塞曼效应

在考虑各种相对论修正以及核运动修正和辐射修正的基础上,采用微扰与变分相结合的方法,给出了氦原子23P态塞曼效应之解析解     

氦原子2 3P态自旋-其他轨道相互作用的理论计算

借助不可约张量理论,导出了氦原子2^3P态自旋-其他轨道相互作用能的理论计算式,在推导过程中完成了所有角向积分和自旋求和计算．